Religion & Law

Religious Music in Public Schools

Posted on July 09, 2009
Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion: "First, this article will analyze the District Court's application of the summary judgment standard and whether its application was appropriate. Next, this article will address the District Court's Establishment Clause analysis and examine the District Court's findings on each prong of the Lemon test...

9th Circuit: Injunction against Wash. Pharmacy rules requiring delivery of abortion pills to be reconsidered

Posted on July 08, 2009
We must decide whether the district court [improperly] . . . enjoin[ed] the enforcement of new rules promulgated by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy (?Board?) that require pharmacies to deliver lawfully prescribed . . . medications . . .

Christian school in Des Moines targets low-income kids

Posted on July 08, 2009
Melissa Walker reports in the Des Moines Register: "A group of Des Moines religious leaders said Tuesday that it will open a private school this fall for children in urban neighborhoods, many from low-income families."

South Dakota: ?Hate-crimes bill spurs dueling warnings?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Jon Walker reports in the Argus Leader: "'We will not tolerate hate perpetrated against vulnerable populations,' said Karen Mudd, a board member of Equality South Dakota, which backs lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents. . . . 'This bill infringes on a Christian's right to speak out on any type of sin...

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UK: ? Lords reject assisted dying law?

Posted on July 08, 2009
BBC: "A move to make it legal to help a terminally ill person to die has been defeated in the House of Lords. The measure would have removed the threat of prosecution from those who go abroad to help an 'assisted suicide.'"

Capitol religious engravings added to Senate bill

Posted on July 08, 2009
One News Now: "Senator Jim DeMint's amendment calling for the addition of patriotic religious references to the new Capitol Visitors Center has been added to a key appropriations bill."

Public ignored; full steam ahead for embryonic sacrifice

Posted on July 08, 2009
One News Now: "Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow those guidelines set up a system that creates an incentive for embryonic sacrifice. He goes on to say NIH simply did not listen to the public."

Mike Johnson on the Matt Patrick Show: Religious liberty and abortion litigation in Ohio

Posted on July 08, 2009
ADF attorney Mike Johnson appeared on the Matt Patrick Show (WHLO) to discuss recent victories in Ohio involving the religious freedom of a Christian student group and an Ohio Supreme Court ruling upholding an abortion drug safety law. The mp3 runs just over 11 minutes...

UK: ?Assisted dying: Not in our name?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Jane Campbell writing in the Guardian: "Today I and hundreds of other disabled and terminally ill people want you to know, we do not want assisted dying to be legalised for 'people like us.' I will speak in the House of Lords against proposed amendments to the coroners and criminal justice bill that seek to set this country on the road to legalising assisted dying and, ultimately, euthanasia for people with terminal conditions...

Signatures obtained to force Maine marriage vote in only 4 weeks

Posted on July 08, 2009
"Mark Mutty from the Stand for Marriage Maine coalition says it took only four weeks to gather the more than 55,087 signatures necessary to put gay marriage to a vote. "

?Mass. sues feds over definition of marriage?

Posted on July 08, 2009
"The federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said."

?NEA calls for LGBT rights?

Posted on July 08, 2009
365Gay.com: "The National Education Association adopted two resolutions calling for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights at its annual conference last week."

?Gay marriages now recognized in D.C.?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Nathan Black reports in The Christian Post: "In a lawsuit, filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, they asked to delay enactment of the law recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere as they sought a referendum, which would allow voters to decide on the matter...

Internet Gambling Ban Appears Likely to Withstand 3rd Circuit Challenge

Posted on July 08, 2009
Shannon P. Duffy writes at the Legal Intelligencer (Law.com): "In the high-stakes court battle over the constitutionality of a federal law that bans all Internet gambling transactions that would be illegal in the gambler's state, a trio of federal appeals judges in Philadelphia appeared unlikely on Tuesday to strike the law down...

House Committee Defeats Amendment to Stop Obama?s Tax-Funded Abortions in DC

Posted on July 08, 2009
LifeNews: "A House committee on Tuesday night defeated a pro-life amendment designed to stop President Barack Obama's plan to fund abortions in the nation's capital with taxpayer dollars. The House Appropriations Committee voted largely along partisan lines to prevent restoration of the funding ban...

Madison firm CDI generates stem cells from blood samples

Posted on July 08, 2009
The Business Journal: "Cellular Dynamics International Inc., a firm founded by stem cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Wednesday that its researchers have generated pluripotent stem cells from small volumes of human blood samples...

Faith in the Law: ?Christian? lawyers practice what?s preached.

Posted on July 08, 2009
In fact, California is home to a handful of loosely affiliated attorneys who call their legal work 'Christian.' . . . Some lawyers define their Christian focus by pursuing high-profile "religious freedom" cases. Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, operates a branch office in Folsom, and its California clients include ...

Sotomayor supported censoring biblical verse on homosexuality from NYC billboard

Posted on July 08, 2009
Adam Brickley reports at CNSNews: "In the case of Okwedy v. Molinari, decided in 2003, Sotomayor sat on a three-judge panel that upheld a lower court?s ruling (from 2001) against Keyword Ministries and its pastor, Kristopher Okwedy. The ministry had purchased billboard advertisements featuring Bible verses that condemned homosexuality...

19 Congressional Democrats vow to oppose health-care packages that don?t exclude abortion

Posted on July 08, 2009
"Nineteen of them, including Ohio's Marcy Kaptur and Steve Driehaus, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that vowed opposition to any health care reform package that spends tax dollars on abortion."

Alabama judge dismisses charges against abortion protestor

Posted on July 08, 2009
Eric Velasco reports in the Birgmingham News: "A Jefferson County judge dismissed two misdemeanor charges against a Birmingham abortion protester today who was twice arrested on a sidewalk in front of the New Woman All Women clinic."

Saudi religious squad beefs up anti-vice patrols

Posted on July 08, 2009
SwissInfo.ch: "Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police plan a summer anti-vice drive to enforce prayer-keeping and modesty in the conservative Gulf Arab state, its head said in remarks published Wednesday."

?How to end ?Don?t ask, don?t tell??

Posted on July 08, 2009
Lawrence J. Korb, Sean E. Duggan and Laura Conley write at the Christian Science Monitor: "The policy that keeps gays from serving openly undermines military readiness and does not make sense practically, financially, or morally. So what is holding the administration back?"

Pennsylvania: Protecting Your Community Against Sexually Oriented Businesses

Posted on July 08, 2009
Pennsylvania Family Institute: "Community members can play a huge part in the zoning ordinance and/or licenses of sexually oriented businesses . . . "

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Signs Pro-Life Bill With Abortion Conscience Clause

Posted on July 08, 2009
LifeNews: "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill Tuesday that gives pro-life doctors and other medical professionals more conscience protections on abortion under state law."

Iowa: Spencer school district shapes policy on religion

Posted on July 08, 2009
Des Moines Register: "Public school students in Spencer will get to study the Bible and pray at graduation if school district leaders approve a proposed 'religious liberties' policy, the first of its kind in Iowa."

Out-of-State Same-Sex ?Marriages? Now Have Full Effect in D.C.

Posted on July 08, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "According to the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal advocacy group representing the interests of D.C. marriage advocates, the HRA should remain no obstacle to putting such an initiative on the ballot. 'While the Superior Court's decision on the referendum disenfranchised the voters of D...

Abortion pill used in a quarter of US abortions

Posted on July 08, 2009
"Roughly a fourth of American women getting early abortions last year did so with drugs rather than surgery, statistics show, as a new study reported improved safety in using the so-called 'abortion pill.'"

Abortion?s Role in Health Care ?Reform? Becomes Increasingly Prominent

Posted on July 08, 2009
Dave Andrusko writes in National Right to Life News & Views: "As Congress races toward the finish line in its massive effort to "reform" our nation's health system (accounting for a sixth of the entire economy), pro-abortionists are racing to embed abortion in any new system...

New On-the-Ground Investigations Confirm UNFPA Complicity in China?s Coercive Population Policy

Posted on July 08, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "The Population Research Institute (PRI) is turning up the heat on the Obama administration for handing $50 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with news of yet another investigation confirming the UN group's complicity in China's coercive birth control policies

Brazilian Supreme Court Rules that Sex With Children Not Necessarily a Crime ? Denounced by United Nations

Posted on July 08, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "The Brazilian Supreme Court and a lower appeals court have nullified two sentences against child sex abusers in recent months on the grounds that their behavior did not constitute a crime under Brazilian law, sparking a protest from the United Nations...

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